S. S. Arabic – Grandparent’s immigration ship in 1912

My grandparents set sail from Liverpool to Boston as Swedish immigrants in 1912 on the S. S. Arabic (II) of the White Star line, the same line as the famed Titanic. I would have been very frightful to make a passage within months of such a tragedy, but alas, my grandparents were brave souls. This ship did have an interesting fate, however, as the first ship down in WW1, torpedoed by a German submarine, known as The Arabic Case.

The R.M.S. Arabic Twin-Screw, 15,800 Tons was hailed the largest and fastest steamer in the Boston trade.

A carpenter by trade, my grandfather, Fritz Olsson, turned 18 years old while on the voyage which left on September 10, 1912 and arrived two days after his birthday (16th) on September 18, 1912. My grandmother Carla Edberg, a nurse/governess, set sail on October 8th, 1912, also on the S. S. Arabic, and arrived in Boston on October 17, 1912. Both remained in Boston, MA, they married two years later on October 6, 1914.